New Zealand top medal table as ISAF Sailing World Cup concludes

April 27, 2014 (ISN) – In a three way shootout for the women’s RS:X title on the final day of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup in Hyères, it was Germany’s Moana Delle who edged ahead of her two rivals, sealing the gold with a strong performance in the medal race.

The three windsurfers had guaranteed themselves a medal going into the final race but the colours were far from certain as two points separated Delle from rivals, Maja Dziarnowska of Poland and China’s Jiahui Wu.

With very little separating the whole RS:X field in this all-important race, neither of the three medal contenders ended the race on the podium as China’s Peina Chen crossed the finish line in first.

An eighth place finish for Belle was enough for her to seal the title, however, as she finished just one ahead of her Chinese rival.

A disappointing end to the week saw Dziarnowska finish in last place although a consolation bronze medal was already guaranteed for the Pole.

Going into the men’s race, three Polish sailors occupied the medal positions with Piotr Myszka already wrapping up the gold medal and Pawel Tarnowski all but guaranteed the silver.

The battle for third position was the real tussle coming into this final medal race as a third Pole, Przemyslaw Miarczynski, looked to take advantage of his slight lead over the Netherlands’ Dorian Van Rijsselberge.

Van Rijsselberge came out on top, finishing third, just a place ahead of the Pole, to sneak the bronze medal.

In the men’s laser, just three points separated New Zealand’s Andy Maloney and Australia’s Tom Burton going into the medal race.

A fifth place was enough for the Aussie to close the gap and take gold as Maloney was left to settle for seventh.

Rutger Van Schaardenburg of the Netherlands finished the event with bronze.

After a disappointing opening race yesterday saw Evi Van Acker drop into second behind Tatiana Drozdovskaya of Belarus, the Belgian did not put a foot wrong today, leading from start to finish to seal the women’s laser radial title.

Drozdovskaya did enough to hold onto silver, finishing third behind the Netherlands’ Marit Bouwmeester who rounded off the final podium.

The New Zealand duo of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke made it two ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta victories in a row with another dominant display in the men’s 49er.

Ireland’s Ryan Seaton and Matthew Mcgovern bounced back from their disappointing 35th in Mallorca just a few weeks ago to pick up the silver, whilst Australia’s Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen pushed hard on the final day to pick up bronze.

A disappointing final day did nothing to dash Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze’s spirits as the Brazilians’ 18 point lead was sufficient to secure them a second consecutive World Cup 49erFX gold.

The Kiwi duo of Alex Maloney and Molly Meech managed to reduce the gap to just eight points after the three stadium style races as they claimed the silver medal, whilst the Danish pairing of Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen finished third overall.

Australian’s Mat Belcher and Will Ryan got back to winning ways as they snatched gold in the men’s 470.

Greece’s Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis finished one point ahead of Sofian Bouvet and Jeremie Mion of France as the two teams took silver and bronze.

New Zealand’s Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie picked up their third victory of the 2013-2014 season with a comfortable win in the women’s 470.

Britain’s Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre, who won ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, and Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha of the United States fought hard for silver and bronze.

The Britons came through in second which gave them the silver whilst an American fifth saw them finish the week in third.

An error in the Nacra 17 race cost Australian’s Darren Bundock and Nina Curtis their seven point overnight lead with the Italian pairing of Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri finishing the medal race in second to take gold.

France’s Billy Besson and Marie Riou tied on 72 points with the Italians however, due to finishing a place behind their rivals in the final race, the French sailors were forced to settle for silver.

With Dutch sailor Pieter Jan Postma already having sealed gold, the big battle in the Finn race was between Croatia’s Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic and France’s Thomas Le Breton for the silver and bronze.

Third was enough for the Croatian to steal the silver as Le Breton was left settling for bronze.

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